dashes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of dash.

   The recipe called for two dashes of bitters in each cocktail.

   Her sentences were broken up by frequent dashes that gave the prose a breathless pace.

   Note

   The -es spelling follows the rule for nouns ending in sh: one dash, two dashes. A single plural covers marks of print (figure, en and em dashes), the long signals of Morse code, short runs and violent strikes. It is spelled exactly like the present-tense verb form, so let the grammar decide: a determiner signals the noun (the dashes, three dashes), a subject signals the verb (she dashes off).

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of dash.

   The waiter dashes between tables during the lunch rush.

   A sudden gust dashes the spray against the rocks below.

   Note

   With he, she or it as subject, the verb adds -es; every other subject takes plain dash. It works both with and without an object. Someone dashes across the road (intransitive), but a wave dashes a boat against the rocks (transitive). An older transitive use, now dated, means to adulterate, as when a seller dashes wine with something cheaper.

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